Well this is actually Rae Sarver posting this but I am not as internet savvy as my wonderful husband. There are several parenting groups that I follow on Facebook that seem to (at least a large majority) follow the belief that T.V. should not only never be turned on around a child but not even used for an adult. I struggled with this for most of my life. When Neil and I met I had a T.V. in the living room but only because that was my roommate's. I did not really watch T.V. Neil is a HUGE movie fan and likes to watch them frequently. I must say since we have had our child he has decreased his movie watching significantly.
The T.V. is on now as I write. I turned it on to play "Blue's Clues" while Conan ate a late breakfast. Conan wakes up at about 11 and I made her oatmeal and cereal and milk but she likes to graze. She doesn't sit and watch it but she does shake her booty to the songs and answer back when they call out.
As far as myself? I may watch a show when she naps but that is about it. On rainy days I have been known to put on a show while he sat in her bedroom and played. She is very independent. This may surprise those people in my life that have warned me of the dangers of co-sleeping and extended breastfeeding and baby wearing as tools to insure a clingy child.
We pretty much go with the flow in this house. She doesn't have a set in stone bedtime yet she goes to sleep between 10:30pm-11:30 pm. Thats when I gets home from my part time job.
When I am at work, Neil may watch something while Conan plays but he never ignores Conan to do so. Conan seems to have little to no interest in T.V. and we have not kept it from her. I think that if you make T.V. a huge forbidden fruit that causes problems when she gets older and gorges herself (so to speak) on T.V.
So ya- T.V. is not the devil.
